Across the physical security landscape, deployments are evolving toward more intelligent and connected architectures as end users accelerate investments in smart cities, transportation systems, mixed use properties, and industrial facilities.
For systems integrators, the shift is creating new opportunities to deploy advanced video analytics, cloud enabled platforms, and unified management systems, although integration challenges remain.
Insights from experts at VIVOTEK and Axis highlight the trends shaping customer requirements in 2024 and 2025 and the considerations most relevant for security professionals.
Smart cities and industrial verticals drive AI adoption
Demand for AI enabled video surveillance continues to grow across several high priority verticals. According to Jackie Wu, Department Manager at VIVOTEK, the strongest momentum is in government and commercial initiatives focused on urban infrastructure and digital transformation.
Wu noted that "many countries in the Asia-Pacific region are actively developing smart cities, smart transportation, and smart factories, trends that closely align with VIVOTEK’s targeted vertical markets."
These projects increasingly rely on AI driven analytics to automate monitoring, improve operational efficiency, and enhance situational awareness.
Wu pointed out that VIVOTEK’s "AI-powered security solutions have already been deployed across the region, including recent projects in Taiwan such as public transportation systems, where the security system ensures passenger safety, and technology factories, where cameras enhance the efficiency of security protection."
Consolidating AI functions to simplify management
As end users adopt more analytics, systems integrators need platforms that reduce management complexity and provide consistent performance across larger deployments. Wu explained that this is influencing product strategy.
"This year, with the official launch of VIVOTEK’s AI-powered operations automation cloud platform, VORTEX, and its AI Hub, AI capabilities are now consolidated into a single interface, streamlining user operations and enhancing security efficiency," Wu said.
A key addition is Think Search, an AI search function designed to support faster investigations. "One of AI Hub’s new features, Think Search, leverages visual-language models to enhance search efficiency and expand searchable content, harnessing VIVOTEK’s AI cloud security expertise to continuously create safer environments."
Challenges integrators face when deploying AI
While demand for AI based solutions is rising, systems integrators continue to face several technical and operational challenges. According to Wu, these include integrating AI tools with existing infrastructures, ensuring adequate hardware and compute resources, and managing privacy, security, and model updates.
Wu emphasized this point clearly. "Systems integrators face several challenges when deploying AI solutions such as integrating new AI tools with existing systems, meeting the hardware and computational requirements, addressing privacy and security concerns, and proving the value of AI to clients while maintaining and updating models over time."
To support integrators, Wu explained that platform flexibility is essential. "VIVOTEK is the preferred choice for systems integrators because we provide AI cameras and VAST Security Station with edge AI capabilities, as well as VORTEX with a hybrid cloud architecture. Even if clients continue using their existing cameras, they can still connect to VORTEX, giving system integrators greater flexibility in deploying solutions, while ensuring the entire security system operates reliably and can scale or be upgraded in line with customer needs and technological advancements."
Integrating video surveillance with access control and alarms
Alongside advances in AI, integrators are focusing on deeper system integration to improve incident response and operational oversight. Justin Kumulia, Business Development Manager for Intercoms and Access Control at Axis, highlighted growing demand for unified platforms that combine video, access control, and alarm monitoring.
Kumulia noted that "security today is about creating a connected system that combines video surveillance, access control, and alarm systems into one platform. This integration provides real-time visibility and better control, ensuring safety and smooth operations."
Open architecture remains a key requirement. "With open architecture and ONVIF compliance, these systems can work with various third-party devices, making them flexible and easy to expand," Kumulia said. Integrators benefit from the ability to centralize video feeds, access logs, and alarm data. "Centralized management brings together video feeds, access logs, and alarms into one interface, giving a complete security overview. This approach improves awareness and enables automated responses."
Kumulia explained how automation streamlines response workflows in real environments. "For example, in a mixed-use development, if someone unauthorized tries to enter a secure office, the system locks the door, records video, and alerts security. Similarly, if movement is detected in a restricted area of a mall after hours, the cameras zoom in, and the security team is notified immediately, allowing quick action."
Unified platforms support scalability and compliance
As properties grow more complex, unified architectures help ensure consistent security policies and improve efficiency.
Kumulia shared a real world deployment that demonstrates these benefits. "A multi-purpose development in Australia, combining a shopping mall, office spaces, and a hotel, needed a robust security system that could cater to all three environments. By implementing a hybrid security architecture including network cameras, access control, intercoms, and audio solutions the property was able to strengthen access control with seamless authentication, improve surveillance coverage while maintaining privacy, and ensure regulatory compliance with secure data management."
The outcome, he said, was a system that remained adaptable as needs changed. "This approach provided a scalable and flexible security solution, helping the property owners enhance safety across their entire property."
Emerging requirements in cloud, edge, and hybrid architectures
Another trend influencing solution design is the growing demand for hybrid architectures that combine on premises processing with cloud based services. Integrators report that end users want the resilience of local recording and edge analytics while still benefiting from centralized updates, AI model improvements, and remote management.
This mirrors the approach described by Wu, who pointed to architectures that allow customers to retain existing hardware while extending functionality through cloud platforms.
Hybrid environments also allow integrators to tailor system performance for different operational needs. Critical functions such as real time video processing and access control decision making can run at the edge, while cloud components support long term analytics, data aggregation, and platform wide automation. This division of responsibilities helps reduce bandwidth strain and improves system responsiveness.
Cybersecurity is another factor influencing the design of integrated systems. As video, access control, and alarms converge into unified platforms, protecting device-to-cloud communication and ensuring data integrity are becoming essential requirements.
Although not explicitly discussed in the interviews, both experts referenced architectures that emphasize secure management and compliance.
Kumulia noted that in a real world deployment, the unified system helped the property owners "ensure regulatory compliance with secure data management," underscoring that security design now extends beyond physical devices to digital safeguards.
What these trends mean for systems integrators
For security systems integrators and consultants, several takeaways emerge from these expert insights. First, customer expectations are shifting toward analytics driven monitoring that not only detects incidents but also supports operational intelligence.
Second, integrators are being asked to merge disparate systems into unified platforms that centralize data and automate workflows. Third, flexibility is becoming a core requirement, particularly as end users seek to extend the life of their existing hardware while adopting new AI capabilities.
As the interviews show, success for integrators will depend on their ability to design architectures that balance edge processing, cloud scalability, and open integration across access control, video, analytics, and alarms.
Solutions that simplify management, accelerate investigations, and enable automation will continue to play a growing role in deployments. The ongoing shift toward smart infrastructure and multiuse properties ensures that AI powered, tightly integrated systems will remain central to the evolution of physical security in the years ahead.